Crafty Imaginings & Silly Things: July 2012

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Beach-y Sign and Decor

After putting up my Summer Flip-Flop Wreath, I needed some Summer inside the house….specifically in my entry nook. (Those of you who follow my posts regularly know that I love to change-up my nook for the seasons!)
Because I LOVE the beach and the color-scheme fits right into my existing décor, I dug out the bucket of seashells my son collected over the last several years, some sand, a few odds and ends, and made a fun recycled sign to bring the beach indoors!
The “craft sand” that they sell at the store comes in a small bag and is super expensive. I bought an entire bag of Play Sand (the kind used in sandboxes) at Walmart for a couple of dollars. I cleaned up our seashell collection and then filled a few of my vases with sand and shells. The pretty blue votives were purchased at Hobby Lobby.

On the dining table, I did the same thing (with a larger candle) and spread a bunch of seashells on a silver tray to finish it off. Simple, but ties the rooms together, I think.

This one is just seashells and a little raffia.

I scattered seashells (we had a lot) around the top of the nook and filled my white olive tray with them for the top of the buffet. I also changed the candles here to blue.

The starfish was a Hobby Lobby purchase (because what seascape is complete without one?), along with the fishing net. I used clear thread to tie it to the net.

Then I started working on my new DIY beach-themed sign to complete the scene. I have been saving my old fence boards (as I’ve been replacing them) for these projects.

So, I grabbed a few boards and cut them to the size I wanted….no specific measurements or fancy stuff here….I wanted it to look rough and rustic.

Using screws, I attached two smaller pieces to the backside to provide the support structure. (This is the same way I put together the Family Name Sign I made as a wedding gift this Spring.)

Got out my handy acrylic paints and a spongebrush and started painting. I watered down the paint a bit because I did not want it so vibrant (it was supposed to look a little aged).

I found a cool quote from Jacques Cousteau and decided to give the “chalk-on-paper” trick a try….it worked..kinda.

Basically, you print your words and then color the back of the page with chalk. When you trace the words, the chalk outline stays on the boards.

Since I wasn’t going for perfection, this worked out alright. I simply filled in the words with white paint and a small brush. The whole thing still seemed too bright, so I brushed watered-down brown paint over the whole sign.

And, here it is in the nook…

I’m happy with it. It was just the little punch of color the nook needed.
My son loves the beach-theme and thinks we should leave it year-round!

Happy decorating!